Bottom row from left: Sofia Fargo Westling, UHR, Elin Landell, Administrative Director Validation Delegation, Sebastian Steele, UHR, Karl Berg, Validation Delegation, Pernilla Hultberg, coordinator of the supplementary education at the Sahlgrenska Academy.
EDUCATION. Recently the Government’s newly appointed Validation Delegation visited Sahlgrenska Academy. The delegation consists of 15 persons that represent employers and employee organizations, as well as the central authorities, and have assignments that include developing a national strategy for validation of real competence.
Validation within higher education is a top prioritized issue for the Validation Delegation, which means that universities will be the focus of their work, with a final report being submitted at the end of 2019.
Sahlgrenska Academy has extensive experience in supplementary education for doctors, nurses and dentists with degrees from countries outside of the EU. The goal of education is Swedish licensing and the ability to work within their profession in Sweden.
Sahlgrenska Academy shares this educational assignment with Karolinska Institute and Linköping University.
“For many, this one-year education is a faster track to licensing than the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare’s supplementary program that consists of a proficiency test and an internship.
Here in Gothenburg, we have had good results regarding validation of nurses with an education that differs from the Swedish education,” explains Pernilla Hultberg, who is responsible for coordination of the supplementary education at Sahlgrenska Academy.
Nurses path to licensure
The Validation Delegation as well as the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) visited Sahlgrenska Academy on April 12, and met with education officers and students who discussed their experiences.
“The Delegation was primarily interested in acquiring more information on how we work with acceptance via validation of foreign educated nurses, as we have such excellent expertise. There is a major difference in education of nurses between countries and it results in less than half of those that submit their degrees having their education approved for supplementation by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare,” says Pernilla.
In Gothenburg, the supplementary education paves the way for licensure, even for these persons,
“It can, for example, concern education that is shorter or longer than that in Sweden, which is only partially conducted at the university level or the direct education of specialist nurses, where the actual process differs, but the content and the scope of the education do not differ by much, upon closely scrutinized.
After successfully completing the education, an educational certificate is issued that can then be used as the basis for licensing by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. In recent years, approximately half of those accepted to the education in Gothenburg have been validated by means of interviews, and reviews of previous studies and work experience.
Motivated and ambitious
The one-year supplementary education is demanding, with a lot of classes and examinations, in a short time.
The students are incredibly motivated and ambitious. Swedish at the secondary school level is required in order to be accepted, but as language ability varies, language assistance is offered. In nursing education, a subsection of healthcare Swedish has been added into the curriculum, where you actively work with Swedish throughout the entire education.
The practical part of the education is central for adapting to Swedish health and dental care. A majority of the students, upwards of 90%, do well in the program. Everyone that finishes the education finds work, and some receive job offers even while they are doing their internship.
The student nurses that participated in the fact-finding visit explained that their nursing diplomas from their native countries had not been deemed comparable to one from a Swedish education program. They would then, in principle, have needed to repeat their entire education.
“It is easy to lose faith that you will ever work in your profession again. Instead, they sought jobs as assistant nurses,” explains Pernilla,
“While they emphasized that the job had given them many valuable experiences in Swedish healthcare, they also described how frustrating it can feel to become stuck in a job that is not on par with your competencies.
Several of the nurses that were present declared that they had worked for many years as an assistant nurse before they, often by chance, found out that through supplementary education that they would be able to get back into their profession.
“Now they only have a few more months of education left and several have already received job offers. Proud and highly competent, they will soon be contributing to Swedish healthcare. As licensed nurses, concludes Pernilla Hultberg.
TEXT AND PHOTO: ELIN LINDSTRÖM CLAESSEN
